Alfred Hitchcock Point Of View

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980), the “Master of Suspense”, was a English film director, who was well known for his use of suspense and psychological elements to shock and surprise his audience. Hitchcock was known for his use of recurring themes, motifs and plot devices, such as the use of birds, hand motifs, the audience as a voyeur, mothers, blonde women, and sexuality. He was also very technical in his editing, using filming techniques such as deep focus, point of view, close up and wide, tracking shots. Montage was also a technique he used frequently in his films. He believed that by using visuals, he could convey thoughts and emotions just as well as dialogue could.

How auteur theory can be applied to the study of Hitchcock’s North by Northwest and Vertigo

This technique momentarily suspends the omniscient gaze of the camera, and evokes the spectator’s—as well as Hitchcock’s—desire to “capture” the female protagonist as she escapes off-screen. In this context, the seemingly objective tracking shot may in fact reveal itself as a violent, subjective

In Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, L.B. Jeffries, played by Jimmy Stewart, becomes completely obsessed with spending all of his waking hours watching his neighbors from his wheelchair. He even uses a camera to better his view and thus enhances his role as both a spectator and a voyeur. This contributes to the creation of a movie being played right outside Jeffries’ window. In this “movie within the movie” his neighbors’ lives become the subject for the plot. Each window represents a different film screen, each which is focused upon only when Jeffries directs his attention to it. He witnesses both the anxieties associated with the beginning of a marriage and the heartache of relationships ending. The

In 1958 Alfred Hitchcock released what is considered the greatest film of all time, Vertigo. Vertigo is a film noir thriller that stars James Stewart and Kim Novak. Stewart's character, Scottie Ferguson, is sent to follow and investigate his old friend’s wife, Madeline. He spies on her strange actions and at the time falls deeply in love with her. The viewer is given a restricted narrative through the eyes of former detective, who suffers from vertigo, as he follows Madeline through San Francisco. The audience views the film from the same perspective as Scottie. Hitchcock pompously puts the viewer into Scottie’s eyes in scenes where he is following Madeline give Scottie a voyeuristic sense. The narrative is later switched to unrestricted as

     Hitchcock uses misery, tragedy, and death to show the emotions of his characters. At no point is this more obvious than the end of the movie. Hitchcock spends the entire movie building up to this point and in the end he makes it extremely clear how tragedy has changed the relationship of everyone. After the nagging husbands murder of his wife has been confessed you see

Hitchcock is known for the “meticulousness of his preproduction, shooting, and editing strategies” (Sterritt 9). An example of this is the filming technique Hitchcock used to illustrate Scottie’s Vertigo; to represent the sensation, the camera would physically move away from the subject while simultaneously zooming in on the subjects. Thus this specific shot was used whenever Scottie went through that experience, creating a specific motif for his reaction. Another strategy of Hitchcock is “his celebrated use of point-of-view shots”, which he employed to unite “physical and psychological identification between spectator and character” (Sterritt 11). This is exemplified in Rear Window, which is seen from almost entirely Jeff’s perspective, thus uniting audiences more with Jeff, and therefore the subjective narrative. This increases solidarity with Jeff, and makes it easier for the audience to adopt Jeff’s discoveries as the truth. Additionally point-of-view shots allow viewers to understand characters more, as seen through Judy’s point of view on her walk in the park with Scottie. Another camera angle favoured is the extreme high-angle shot, which in some cases marks a significant point in the plot; this shot is used to show Madeleine’s fall to her death in Vertigo, the point in the movie that serves as a climax that triggers the narrative

Alfred Hitchcock also used cinematography in a uniquely stylizing way. Hitchcock not only uses the camera to create dramatic irony, but he also uses the camera to lie to the audience and create anxious suspense. For example, in his film Psycho, when Marion is in the shower Hitchcock frames the scenes very tightly. Marion is in a confined and very personal space. This makes her incredibly vulnerable. Then Hitchcock heightens the suspense by creating dramatic irony with the reveal of a shadowy figure closing in on Marion, unbeknownst to her. This creates a lot of anxiety for the audience, knowing the protagonist is vulnerable and in danger with no way of altering the inevitable. Hitchcock then manipulates the audience by “revealing” a brief silhouette of an old lady as our shower killer. Hitchcock uses this “reveal” to lie to the audience, he makes the audience think they have more inside knowledge confirming their already growing suspicions, when in reality the audience is misled entirely and the murderer was Norman all along. The way Hitchcock uses the camera to reveal both inside information and misleading information truly keeps the viewer engaged and not knowing what to believe until the truth is finally revealed. By using this unique technique of controlling the audience by only showing what he wants you to see, Hitchcock masterfully defies expectations and creates suspense.

Hitchcock's Psycho Psycho first hit our screens in 1960 directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It faced major controversy, as it was different. Horror films before this were more unrealistic and gruesome. Psycho was a groundbreaking film of the horror genre. It was more realistic the events could happen in reality.

The first half of this course focused on Alfred Hitchcock and how his techniques are now recognized as iconic. From class discussions and film screenings, it is clear that Hitchcock pays every attention to detail when he crafts a scene. Many Hitchcock films we have seen this semester highlight how he builds suspense through cinematic elements such as shadow, dialogue, and composition. While many of his suspenseful scenes stir feelings of intensity and uncertainty, Alfred Hitchcock builds a more romantic suspense in his 1955 film To Catch a Thief in the fireworks scene (1:06:35-1:11:00).

The Alfred Hitchcock film; Vertigo is a narrative film that is a perfect example of a Hollywood Classical Film. I will be examining the following characteristics of the film Vertigo: 1)individual characters who act as casual agents, the main characters in Vertigo, 2)desire to reach to goals, 3)conflicts, 4)appointments, 5)deadlines, 6)James Stewart’s focus shifts and 7)Kim Novak’s characters drives the action in the film. Most of the film is viewed in the 3rd person, except for the reaction shots (point of view shot) which are seen through the eyes of the main character.(1st person) The film has a strong closure and uses continuity editing(180 degree rule). The stylistic (technical) film form of Vertigo makes the film much more

Alfred Hitchcock is arguably the greatest director of all time. Many of his films are considered standards of American cinema and inspired many of today’s directors. Even though Hitchcock is known as timeless director, he had an understanding of philosophy that was beyond his time. Hitchcock had a brilliant perception as to how the mind works and human reaction. Hitchcock’s understanding of philosophy can be seen in his film Vertigo and illustrates how many theories can be debilitating in everyday life.

going back to the other views to see where the policeman is and how is

Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho Psycho, by Alfred Hitchcock, was shocking for its time. Made in the 1960's when film censorship was very tight to today's standards, Hitchcock pushed the limits of what could be shown and did with psycho things that had never been done before. The cinematic art, symbolism and sub-conscious images in this film were brilliant for the time and still are now. Realised for this, psycho has been copied in many ways and the things that made it great have become very clichéd.

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film, Rear Window, explores many dimensions in cinematography. The phenomenal film is well known for proclaiming its voyeurism issues that goes on in today’s society. Even though voyeurism is an act that should not be done, this film portrays it in an affirmative way. Rear Window introduces primary structural components in the first act which sets the mood for the audience to interact with J.B. Jefferies in a way as it is the audiences duty to help him solve the mystery on whether Thorwald murdered his wife or not.